Summer Road Safety
In Texas, summer often includes travel. That means more miles, more distractions and more risk — whether employees are driving for work or heading out on personal road trips. For safety leaders, now is the time to reinforce safe behaviors, promote vehicle readiness and equip drivers with the tools they need to stay safe.
Vehicle Readiness
A safe trip begins before the engine starts. Encourage employees to complete a quick pre-trip inspection. Start with this checklist:
- Tires: Check pressure (including the spare) and inspect for uneven wear
- Engine: Top off coolant and oil; inspect belts and hoses for cracks or wear
- Wipers & visibility: Replace worn blades; pack sunglasses for glare
- Emergency kit: Stock with water, phone charger and basic supplies
Don’t overlook recalls: More than 57 million vehicles on U.S. roads have open recalls. Checking is quick and easy – and repairs are free to fix at a dealer. Learn more: Check to Protect.
Reinforce Safe Habits
Seasonal conditions demand heightened awareness:
- Plan ahead: Map routes before departure
- Expect construction zones and congestion: Slow down and follow posted signs
- Watch for pedestrians and cyclists: Always yield at crosswalks and allow at least 3 feet when passing cyclists
- Avoid fatigue: Start trips well rested and schedule breaks
- Adjust for weather: Rain, heat and glare can all impact visibility and control
Rental Vehicles & GPS Awareness
Summer travel might include rental vehicles, too. Remind employees that safety expectations don’t change:
- Conduct a walkaround inspection before driving
- Understand basic vehicle controls and safety features
- Be aware of GPS/telematics systems that may monitor location, speed or restricted zones
- Follow all rental agreement terms and respond appropriately to alerts or warnings
What Else?
Every trip carries crash risk — and the numbers are staggering:
- 9 million medically consulted injuries were the result of crash incidents in the U.S. in 2024, according to the National Safety Council
- Injury costs were estimated at $559.3 billion, including wage and productivity losses, medical expenses and property damage
Journey management helps reduce that risk by helping you plan for safer travel from the start. Learn how to protect your workforce and reduce incidents with our FREE online Journey Management training. Search the course catalog in our learning management system to get started.
The system supports group delivery training. Supervisors and managers can assign employees courses, track completions and access reporting tools.
Culture of Preparedness
Summer driving risks are predictable – and preventable. By emphasizing vehicle safety, promoting safe driving behaviors and offering training like Journey Management, you can reduce incidents involving your employees and their family members. You save money. They create treasured memories!
Speeding Prevention
Speeding remains one of the most persistent – and preventable – risks challenging drivers in Texas, both on and off the job. And speeding can escalate into aggressive driving behaviors such as tailgating, weaving and rapid lane changes, increasing both crash likelihood and severity.
What Data Shows
- More than 131,000 crashes occurred in Texas in 2024 involving drivers who failed to control speed, averaging more than 350 per day, according to the Texas Department of Transportation
- These crashes contributed to 1,467 fatalities – about 35% of all traffic deaths statewide, according to KXAN-TV
- In addition, more than 19,500 people suffered serious or minor injuries in speed-related crashes
Speeding is not just a roadway issue – it’s a workplace safety concern potentially impacting everything from insurance premiums to your organization’s bottom line as well as the safety of employees and their family members.
Why Employers Should Act
Workplace driving extends beyond fleet operators. Employees commuting, traveling between sites or running errands on the clock all face exposure.
- Speeding reduces reaction time and increases crash severity
- Speeding frequently overlaps with aggressive driving, creating unpredictable, high-risk situations
- Across the U.S., 29% of traffic fatalities involve speeding, underscoring its widespread impact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Change Behavior
One of the most effective – and low-cost – interventions is driver education. Safety leaders can:
- Provide FREE online aggressive driving prevention training (search the catalog)
- Our learning management system allows for group delivery of this training
- Supervisors and managers can assign courses to employees, track completions and access reporting tools
Another way to keep driver safety at the forefront is to reinforce awareness of key principles and review policies covering:
- Speed management and stopping distance
- How to recognize aggressive driving triggers
- Safe responses to high-risk drivers
Extend messaging beyond work hours to influence off-the-job driving habits. Get more information and use these free resources:
- Vintage safety poster: Don’t Be a Speed Demon
- Traffic safety huddle designed to help you talk about speed risks during your next safety meeting
- Ready-made social media graphics and a NHTSA playbook that can be used as a step-by-step guide for posting on your channels
- NHTSA speed data visualization
- NHTSA speed countermeasures that work
Education helps shift speeding from a normalized behavior to a recognized safety risk.
Technology is Your Friend
Speed control is a standard expectation under federal guidance and OSHA safety programs, but leading employers go further by combining clear policies with telematics technology. Core policy elements include:
- Written rules requiring compliance with posted limits and driving conditions
- Driver training on speed management and hazard recognition
- Crash and near-miss reviews to identify whether speed was a contributing factor
Telematics strengthens enforcement and prevention by:
- Monitoring real-time speed behavior and flagging excessive speed events
- Providing driver scorecards and trend data to identify high-risk patterns
- Enabling coaching opportunities based on objective driving data
- Supporting early intervention, reducing repeat unsafe behaviors
- Documenting compliance efforts, helping reduce liability exposure
When paired with communication and coaching – not just discipline – telematics systems can help create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
Bottom Line
Speeding is a leading crash contributor on Texas roads, but speeding risks can be managed through workplace safety programs. By combining our free education courses with your strong policies and telematics-based monitoring, you can proactively reduce aggressive driving behaviors and better protect your workforce, no matter where the road leads.
